Majority of UK employees in the dark over pensions legislation

Written by Freelance journalist, Marek Handzel

06/09/17

The majority of workers in the UK are in the dark over recent chances to pension legislation, new research from online pension adviser Wealth Wizards has shown.

A survey conducted by Populus for Wealth Wizards last month found that only four in 10 workers know what the pensions freedoms are. Over a fifth (22 per cent) didn’t know there had been any changes to pension legislation at all in the last 12 months and almost half (48 per cent) have no idea how the changes will affect them. A further 46 per cent are aware the state pension age has
increased, but have no idea what age it has increased to.

In addition, a quarter reported that they do not take any notice of changes made to pensions legislation because they believe that they will probably never retire anyway. Thirty-seven per cent said they do not take any notice because it is too far off to worry about.

Wealth Wizards also discovered that over 70 per cent of Brits said they thought it was the responsibility of employers to ensure that their employees are informed of changes to pensions legislation and how they are affected on an individual level. As a result, the company says that the research also raises the question of whether employers are doing enough to inform their employees.

“More concerning still is the fact that such a high percentage of the UK are still unaware of pension freedoms, a change that came into play two years ago. This is not to say that this lack of knowledge surrounding pensions in general is not understandable. It is after all a complex issue with many moving parts.

“It does however highlight the need for employers to educate their workforce sooner rather than later to ensure that they are prepared for retirement.”